12 February, 2011

New fasteners! :-)

I finished installing new fasteners on the cheek panels on the side of the nose of 44D. Now I need to get a kit for the upper cowl fasteners, I am feeling confident about drilling out old rivets and popping in new ones. The lower panels on the nose were losing their old fasteners and I was tired to trying to replace them, besides the fact that the panels themselves were wearing thin around the fastener holes. On the left side, it was down to 5 of the 10 fasteners remaining, I finally hit my level of "I have to do something about this" threshold. Losing the panel in flight would probably mess up the engine cooling and I'd have to find a place to land. Not that I ever go anywhere, but I do have plans to go visit grandpa soon.

The new receptacle, had to drill out the old rivets and pop these in. The new fastener is nice since they are adjustable in depth. The old ones had to have the right depth fitting for each hole, since the holes were wearing differently. Not really wearing, pulling through the panel.

Right side cheek panel with new fasteners.

Left side with dramatic view of pilot's window and tail in the background.

44D also got a new canopy cover to the tune of $500. I hope it is worth it.